Type-writing machine.



No.'860,265. PATENTBD JULY 16, 1907.

R. H. STROTHER.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION rum) JULY 21. 1905.

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I I 14:5 ATTEIHNEIY No. 860,265. PATENTED JULY 16, 1907.

RJH. STROTHBR.

. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

YAPPLIOATION IILBD JULY 21. 1906.

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v ATTORNEY PATENTED JULY 16, 1907.

R. H. STROTHER. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

'APPLIOATION FILED JULY 21. 1906.

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14E TTEIRNEY ROBERT-ESTROTH-ER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T UNION JERSEY, A CORPORATION or NEW ensen other way.

' being fed past the printing point without being used.

' than in others, which shortens the life of the ribbon, as

- cornea of irregular density, those parts of the ribbon haunted fromone of the spools to effect an automatic nottsk place until the Yl-lfirtl whom it may concern:

.York and State of New York, have invented certain use of the carriage releasekey or a tabulating key, and

oven-after the ribbon has been used in this way for ,is ofis'uc h character that if, at this time, the ribbon .UNITED STATES] OF JERSEY CITY, NEW

PATENT OFFICE.

TYPEWRIITEIR COMPANY,

TYPE-WRITIN G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1907.

Application at July 27,1905. Serial No. 271,4sr

Be it known that I, ROBERT H. STROTHER, acitizen oi the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the county of New new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing Ma chines, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to typewriting machines and more especially to the feed mechanism for the ink ribbon.-

I The principal object of my invention is to actuate the ribbon feed from the carriage spring in such manner that the ribbon will not be fed when the carriage is released from its escapement mechanism, either by the ordinary release key or by a tabulator key or in any In most typewriting machines in which the feed of only when the carriage. is moving in letter space direction; that is to'say, toward the left, It is very common, tomove the carriagetoward the left for a considerable distance either by thev when this is done, a section'of the ribbon is fed past the printing point without being used. Insome forms of tabulating work a large part of the leftwise motion of the carriage takes place without writing. The result is that the ribbon is used in spots, sections of it The ribbon thus becomes more worn in some places the latter has to be discarded and a new ribbon substituted when a number of patches thereof are too much worn or the ink therefrom too much exhausted. More- 7 some time, the ink being more exhausted from some parts of the ribbon than from others, the writing. be-

thnt have been used little giving a heavier impressionthan those parts that have been used much. Moreover, it iscommon to feed the ribbon from oneof two spools ,to' the other and when the ribbon becomes exreversal; of the direction of feed. In some forms of automatic ribbon reversing apparatus the reversal does last turn of the ribbon about the spool has been partly unwound and the apparatus driving rnechanism is moving rapidly, the partsmay' fail to; with the result that the feed of the ribbon or else the ribbon is torn from the emptied Whnn tabulator key is operated the carriage :ondinarily moves to the left free of the iscapement devices, and consequently moves so rapidly that if one of the spools happens to be exhausted at this particular moment such a failure of the reversing apparatus is liable to occur. For the reasons stated, it is therefore desirable that the ribbon feed shall be operative only when the carriage is moving step-by-step under the control of the escapement mechanism as is the case when writing is being done, and that when the carriage is released from its escapement mechanism the ribbon feed shall be thrown out of operation.

To this and other ends my invention consists in certain features ,of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be fully set forth herein and particularly pointed out in -the claimsf Myinvention-ds illustrated in the accompanying" drawings in which I Figure 1 is arear elevation of a typewriting-machine; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the ribbon driving mechanism of said machine, part of the framcworkbeing broken away and parts shown in section; Fig. 3 is a front to rear. vertical section ofsaid typewriting machine; I Eig. 4 is a frontelevation of a'portion of the ribbon mechanism; Fig; 5 is a detail view in-vertical section through the center of the escapement wheel shaft; and-Fig. 6 is a view insection on a line 23-0: of

, Flig. 5.

l have shown my invention applied to a Monarch visible typewriter, but it will, of course, be understood that it is also applicable to other styles of type writing machines. The. main frame of the machine shown in the drawings comprises a base portion 1 from which rise posts'2 that'support a top plate 3. A platen 4 is mounted in a carriage 5 having grooved rails 6 by anti-friction balls or rollers-7 which are supported which run'in the grooves in said rails and also in 'the grooves of-rail's' 8'which are mounted by means of posts or brackets 9 on the top plate 3. The carriage is drawn. across" the machine by a spring drum 10' (Fig. 1) by lneanspf a band 11', one end of which is secured to said which is secured to the car- The drum 10 is jou'rnaled drum and the other end of riage in the usual manner. on a rod- 12 which is securediin a bracket 13 depending from the top plate. The motion of thecarriage is controlled by an escap'ement mechanism comprising feed dogs 14 mounted on anearm'l5 of a dog rocker which is pivoted to the bracket 13in the usual manner.

The fee'd dogs/,cob'perate with 'an' .escapement wheel 16 journaled in'a bracket g or housing 18 secured to the top plate a. A pinion 19 mounted on a shaft-17 which is rigidly mounted-on the forwarded 6f the shaft 17 meshes with a feed rack 20 which is mounted near its ends on arms 21 pivoted at 22 to .the carriage 5. Each of the arms 2 has rigidlylcon'nected therewith an upward1y and forwardly extending arm 23, the forward end of which is formed into a release key 24.

construction is such that the rack normallyengages the pinion 19, but. said rack may beraised out of en- 5 gagementwith said pinion by depressing .either of the release keys 24.- The dog rocker '15 has a forwardly extending arm 25. which is connected by a link 26 with an arm 27' connected with a universal bar frame 28. .Said universal bar 'frarne comprises a rock shaft 29 which is pivoted at its ends to the side plates of the base portion 1 of the main frame. Theunivers'al bar 28 lies beneath'a series of key levers29 which are fulcrumed near their rear ends on'. a fulcrum plate 30 and which at their-'forward'ends are provided with character keys 31. Each of the key levers 29'has pivot-ed thereto at 32 a sub-lever 33"which is slotted at its lower end to embrace a frame rod 34 in the manner'usual-inthe Monarch machine. The sub-levers 33 are cbnnected by links 35 with type 'bars 36 which are pivotally mounted in a type bar segment 37 in any suitable manner. The construction is such that when any key 31 is depressed the corresponding type bar will be thrown to the printing point on the front face of the platen 4, and the universal bar 28' will be depressed and the carriage be permitted to move a letter space distance. The escapement wheel 16 is connected with the shaft 17 by the means best shown in'Figs. 5 and 6. Said es-' of the wheel. A pawl orpawls 41 are pivoted to thewheel 39 on pivot pins or screws 42 passing through said pawls and thflaaded into the face of the wheel" 39 within the hollowed portion thereof, The pawls 41 are pressed into engagement with the ratchet wheel 38 by springs 43 secured to the wheel at 44. The construction is such that when the carriage is moving toward the left, the escapernent wheel is'constrained to turn with the carriage, but said carriage may be' drawn toward 45 the right without turning the escapement whel, the

' pawls 41 riding idly over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 38. When the carriage is drawn toward the rightgthe feed dogs prevent backward rotation of the escapernent wheel, or any'suitable means may be provided for this purpose.

The machine is equipped with a tabulator of known construction. A tabnlator bar is mounted at its endsli'n brackets 46 projecting toward the rear of themachine from the posts 9 to which said brackets are secured by screws 47, The tabulator bar is reduced'at' one end, as shownin Fig. 1,-said reduced end being journaled in one of the brackets 46 and held in position by a headed screw 48 threaded into the end of the bar. Endwiss motion of the. tabulittor bar in one direction 60 is prevented by the head ofthe screw 48 and in the other direction by a. collar or hub iii-secured on the. other end of the tabulator bar outside of the bracket 46 by a. set screw 50. Anarm 51 (Fig. 3) projecting from the hub 49 is connected by a link 52 with a lever 53 65 which is pivoted to one of the side plates of the, base 1 The" ward end carries a tabulator. key 58. The construc- 'tion is such thatwhen-thetabulator key isdepressed, the link "52 is drawn downwardly and the tabuwheel 38 being'located within the hollowed out face;

by a shouldered and headed screw 54. v The lever 53 is pivoted at, 55 to-a 'tabulator key lever 56 which is pivotedat 57 to 'js aid side 'plate, and which at its for v lator bar 45,is rocked toward the front of the machine. Said tabulator baris formed with aseries of slots spaced aletter space distance apart and one or more stop members 59 are adapted to be mounted-on 7 5 said tabulator bar, being held in position by the slots therein. Each of the tabulator stop pieces 59 is formed with a stop arm 66 which normally stands in the posi; ti'on shown in Fig. 3' a little above the rear end of a stop 61 which projects toward the rear of the machine from the carriage 5. The stop 61 is secured to the rear face of one of the rails 6 by screws 62. When the tabulator key is depressed, the stop is moved into the path of the stop 61. The link '52 passes through the back shelf 63 of the base portion 1 of the main frame and above said shelf a spring 64 is coiled about said link and compressed between the' shelf and a collar 65 rigidly secured to the link. This-spring serves to return the parts to normal position when the tabulator key is released. A collar or hub 66 (Fig. 1 rigidlysecured to the link 52 has projecting therefrom toward the front of the machine an arm 67 (Fig. '3) which stands above one end of a'lever 68 which is pivoted at 69 to a bracket 70 depending iron; the top plate 3. The other end of the lever 68 has-pivotedtthereto at71 the stem of a plate 72, the upper end of which is forked and embraces the housing 18 in which theshaft 17 is journaled. Each of the forks of the plate is-be'n't forward, as shown in Fig. 3, said forwardly bent portions 1 lying-beneath the feed rack 20; The construction is such that when the tabulator key is'depressed, the arm' 67 depresses one end of the lever 68 which elevates the plate 72 and raises the feed rack 20 out ofengagement with the pinion 19, thus releasing the carriage from its escapement mechanism Two ribbon spools 73 are mounted above the top plate 3 on vertical shafts 74 which extend through said top plate, in the well-known manner ordinarily employed in the Monarch machine. The ribbon spools 4 are located in front of the platen on either side of the printing point and the ribbon is led from one spool to the other through a ribbon vibrator 75.which is mounted in a forked guide 76 secured to the top plate 3. Said vibrator has a depending arm 77 to which is pivoted the forward end of a lever 78 which'is pivoted at 79 in a bracket'SO-depending from the ,top plate 3. The rear end of the lever 78 is pivoted to a link 7 9, the lowe: end of which is pivoted to the arm 27 ofthe universal bar. On thelower ends of the shafts 74 there are rigidly mounted beveled gears 80 that mesh with beveled pinions 81, each of which is mounted on a horizontal shaft 82 journaled in brackets 83 depending from the top plate. Each of the shafts 82 has mounted'on its rearend a beveled gear 84, that is adapted to mesh with a beveled pinion 85 rigidly mounted on-a' trans- 1.25

verse horizontal driving shaft 86 that is journalcd in brackets 87 dcpcnding from the top plate. The shaft 86 is adapted to slide in its bearings longitudinally in order to bring one or the other of the pinions 85 into. mesh with its gear 84 in order to drive one'or the other of the ribbon spools, and a detent device 86, of well knowniconstruction, is provided for yieldingly holding said shaft in either of its two positions. The mechanism thus far described is old and may be of the construc- JED "turns toward the left. But inthe present case, the

shaft 86, although driven by power, derived from said spring drum, is connected with said drum indirectly in such fashion that whenever the rack is raised to release the carriage either by mearis of the release keys 1 24 or by the tabulator mechanism, the ribbon mechanism is not operated. In order to effect this result the shait 86 is geared to the rack 20. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways but I prefer to gear the shaft 86 to the escapement wheel 16. To this end a gear wheel 88 (Fig. 5) is rigidly mounted on the escapement wheel 16 by screws 89 which pass through said gear wheel and are threaded into said escapement wheel. The gear wheel 88 is formed with a hub 90, the rear. end of which fits over a shoulder formed on the escapement wheel as shown in Fig. 5. The gear wheel 88meshes with a gear wheel 91 journaled on a shouldered and headed screw 92 which is threaded into a bracket 93 which is secured to the top plate 3 by a screw The gear wheel 91 is not directly beneath the 3 0 gearwheel 88 but stands at one side thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, soas not to' interfere with the feed dogs. The gear wheel 91 meshes with a gear wheel 95 mounted ona shaft 96 journaled in a boss 97 (Fig. 3) of the bracket 13. i The forward end of the shaft 96 has mounted there- 3 onia beveled pinion 98 that meshes with a beveled gear -99 looselymounted on the shaft 86. The beveled gear 99 has a hub 100 formed on its end with ratchet clutch teeth 101 which mesh with corresponding ratchet clutch teeth'on a collar 102 that is slidably mounted on the 4p shaft 86. j Said collar 102 is formed with an elongated slot 103 into which a pin 104 projects from the shaft 86. The collar 102is pressed into engagement with the hub 100. by a 'spring 105 coiled about the shaft 86 and "compressed between said collar and one of the brackets 87.

5. When the shaft 86 is moved lengthwise to move one of the pinions 85 out of engagement with its gear 84 and the other of said pinions into engagement with its gear, thepcollar 1'02 and the gear wheel 99 remain in their normal position, the-shaft 86 sliding through them.

0 This mot ioh is permitted by the pinand slot connection 103, 104. i 7lheribbon spools being geared to the carriage in. the manner whichhas been described, it is obvious that such spools will not be turned when the carriage is dravim toward the right, nor will they be 5 turned when the carriage is released irom the escapement wheel. When the carriage is drawn toward the right, the shaft 1'7 is turned idly within the escapement wheel to which the ribbon spools are geared. The shaft 86 has mounted thereon one or more cranks 106 by which shaft may be turned by hand in order to windthe ribbon on to one or the other of the spools.

The ratchet teeth 101, permit this motion in the properdirectionito windlthe ribbon but prevent such motion inythe other direction. When the driving shaft 86 turnedfby hand,- the train of gearing between it and the escapement wheels is held against rotation by the feed dogs or by any separate, device that may be provided for the purpose. Various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement without departing from my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz- '1. In a typewrltlng machine, the combination of a carriage, spring means for driving said carriage; a feed rack mounted on said carriage; a feed pinion normally meshing with said feed rack; an escapcment wheel controlling said feed pin-ion; a pawl and ratchet connection between said escapement wheel and said feed pinion; means for lifting said cscapemcnt r'ack out of engagement with saidpinlon to relensethe carriage; two spools for an ink ribbon; at

transverse driving shaft shiftable axially to gear it to one or the other of said spools; and a gear wheel mounted on said transverse driving shaft and geared to said escapement wheel. a

2'. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage; spring means for driving said carriage; an escapement mechanism including an escnpement wheel for controlling the motion 'of said carriage; a ratchet connection between said carriage and said escapcment wheel adapted to permit said carriage to move in one direction without turning said escapement wheel but not in the other direc tion; ribbon spools; gearing between said ribbon spools and said escapement wheel whereby one of said ribbon spools is rotated .when said escapemcn t wheel is turned; hand operated means for turning said ribbon spools; and ratchet mechanism comprised in the connections between said hand operated means and said escapcmcnt wheel to permit the operation of said hand operated meanswithou't turning said escapement wheel.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage; spring means for driving said carriage a rack bar mounted on said carriage; a pinion normally engaged by said, r'ack bar; ribbon spools driven by said pinion in one direction; and means for raising said rack bar out of engagcmcnt with said pinion, thus releasing the ribbon mech' anism from said carriage.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage; spring means for driving said carriage a feed rack mounted on said carriage; a feed pinion normally meshing with said feed rack; ah escapement mechanism including an escapcmcnt wheel; a ratchet device between said cs capemcnt mechanism and said pinion adapted to cause said pinion to turn said wheel in one direction; a gear wheel rigidly connected with said cscapement wheel; a. shut t geared to said gear wheel; a transverse driving shaft geared to the first mentioned shaft; two ribbon spools: means whereby. one or the other of said ribbon spools may be geared to said driving shaft; and means for raising said feed ruck out of engagement with said pinion to release said carriage from said escapcnicnt wheel and said ribbon spool from said carriage.

5. In a typcwriting machine, the combination of a carriagc;' an escapement wheel geared to said carriage: a gear wheel rigidly connected with said cscapcmcnt wheel a ratchet device between said escapemcnt win-cl and said carriage, whereby said cscnpcment wheel is turned by said carriage in one direction but not in the other; spools for I an ink ribbon; gearing connecting said spools and said gear wheel hand operated means for turning said spools and a ratchet device comprised in the connections between said lrand operated means and said gear wheel.

6. In a typcwrlting machine, the. combination oi :1 carridge, spring means for driving said carriage, a rack bar on said carriage, an cscapemcnt mechanism comprising an escopement wheel geared to said rack bar, a pair of ribbon spools, a transverse driving shaft shiftnblo longitudinally to gear it to one or theothcr oi said ribbon spools, ligamwheel mounted on said driving shaft, gearing between said gear whcol and said rack bar, and means for moving said rack bar out of gear with said cscapomcnt wheel and said ribbon driving shaft.

7. In a. typewrlting machine, the combination oi. a carvriage, spring means for driving said carriage, aiaek bar mountedon saidcarriage, a pinion meshing with said rack bar; a pair of ribbon spools, a transverse driving shaft for i said ribbon spools shiftable longitudinally to gear it to one 39 thejoth'er of said spools, a gear wheel onsaid driving riage'; means forfdriving said carriage;

Ishafgffsaid gear wheel'being geared to said pinion, and moans-for moving said rack bar out of engagement with said pinion."

5-8,. In atypewr'iting machine, the combination of a carriage; a rack bar on said carriage ea step-by-step feed dedevise including an escapement wheel; a gear wheel mounted on one face of said escapement wheel; and ribbon mechanism driven by'said gear wheel. 1

10. In a. typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, an escapement mechanism for said carriage including an escapement wheel; a toothed wheel rigidly connected with said escapement wheel;

said-toothed wheel; and means-f or allowing said driving, shaft to be turned by .hand without turning said toothed wheel.

11. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, an escapement wheel; means whereby said carriage drives said escapement wheel in .one direction but not in the other; a ribbon mechanism driven by said escapement wheel; and means for affording a motion of said ribbon mechanism independently of said escapement wheel.

Signed at borough of'Manhattan, city of New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, this th day Of July, A. D. 1905. v

R. H. STROTHER.

Witnesses:

E. M. WELLS; J. BJDEEVES.

' a pair of. ribbon spools a transverse driving shaft for said ribbon spools; means whereby said transverse driving shaft is driven by 

